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Hot on the heels of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s re- invention of the kung fu movie comes another genre-busting film from the Far East: Tears Of The Black Tiger, a ‘Thai western’. Director WISIT SASANTIENG tells The List some campfire tales. Words: Miles Fielder
Watching Tears Of The Black Tiger (Fa 'lirlai June). western fans will pick out the camaraderie between gunslingers found in John Ford films. the idiosyncratic strains of Ennio Morricone's soundtracks for Sergio Leone‘s Spaghetti westerns and the bloodthirsty slow motion gunfights that pepper Sam Peckinpah‘s movies. Behold teeth flying through the air. But from the opening scene. in which beautiful young Rumpoey (Stella Malucchi) shelters in a sala from a downpour while awaiting her man. Dum (Chartchai Ngamsan). the glorious over-saturated colour of her red lipstick and the surrounding purple water lilies suggest we're in a Douglas Sirk-style melodrama. Or maybe the Thailand of yesteryear.
‘The first impulse was to define an authentically Thai style of tilmmaking.‘ says writer-director Wisit Sasanatieng. He‘s just the man to do it. A graduate of Bangkok‘s top art college. Sasanatieng has already written the screenplays for the two most successful titles in Thai film history: Dung Bireley".vAm1 The Young Gangsters and Nung Nak. Blur-k Tiger is Sasanatieng‘s directing debut. ‘The problem in Thai cinema has been the lack of continuity.‘ he says. ‘The industry has been through so many upheavals its traditions kind of died out. I wanted to go back to something that had been lost.‘
Sasanatieng started by watching old movies restored by the Thai Film Archive. ‘1 was knocked out by what I found. I thought it should be possible to combine retro elements with modern pacing and film language. Many of my contemporaries in Thai film circles told me I was crazy.‘
But Sasanatieng has pulled it off: the results are spectacular. Styles. characters and themes are cleverly
‘In casting, I looked for people who had “C the terrific charisma you used to get in film stars of the 605’
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Colour that suggests we’re in Thailand of yesteryear
parodied. but also given a modern spin. 'l‘lius scenes open with old-fashioned ‘iris shots‘. play against obvious back projection and cut to the next scene with ‘wipes‘ (think of the techniques employed in Saturday morning adventure serials). The pacing. however. is as dynamic as a John Woo bullet ballet. Likewise. the story evokes Thai cinema's past. but blends the traditional tale of Rumpoey and l)um's impossible love (her father‘s the local governor: Dum‘s alter ego is Black Tiger. top gunman of the bandit chief. l‘ai) with modern cynicism and existential angst.
‘There are several scenes and images which are quoted from old movies.. says Sasanatieng. "l‘hc shoot outs and raids are not modelled on particular scenes. but they're in the style of the action genre of the (i()s. The genre became known (contemptuoust) a “Raberd poa. khaow pao kratom — Bomb the mountain. burn the huts" movies.
‘ln casting. I looked for people who had the kind of charisma you used to get in lilm stars of the (i()s.‘ he says. "l‘hose vintage stars weren‘t great actors. but they did have terrific charisma.‘
reproduced that dated performance style by casting
newcomers in the lead roles: Stella Maliucchi as Rumpoey and Chartchai Ngamsan. who plays it like a young lilvis Presley. as l)um.
The retro-style acting is a subtle effect. By contrast. the film’s production design has immediate and dramatic impact. ‘I wanted that lurid. over-saturated look because it’s very Thai.’ says Sasanatieng. ‘When I travel Lip-country. the temples. houses. clothes and posters I see are all like that: bright and colourful. very appropriate in a hot country.‘ Almost every shot in the lilm was treated during the editing process. but Sasanatieng went as far as painting his sets. pink. green. etc.
Black Tiger is Sasanatieng‘s labour of love. In Thailand the film was marketed tising retro promotional techniques: a novel serialisation in a
popular magazine. hand-coloured postcard portraits of
the leading actors and a drama serial for radio. it was worth it: Tears Of The Black Tiger is exuberant. camp and vulgar and as such. thoroughly. wonderfully bizarre. The resurgence of Thai cinema starts here.
Tears Of The Black Tiger (Fa Talai Jone) UGC, 13 Aug, 7pm; Cameo, 16 Aug, 10pm.
The best festival films ' ,
I Amelie and Jean-Pierre Jeunet Reel Life The man who created Delicatessen returns with another marvellously eccentric fantasy (which opens the Film Festival) and gives a masterclass about the making of it. See feature. pages 10-11 and panel. Amelie, UGC, 72 Aug, 8pm; GFT. 75 Aug, 8.30pm. Jeunet Ree/ Life, UGC, 7 3 Aug. 6. 30pm.
I Henry Bean Reel Life One of Hollywood's smartest screenwriters talks about working within the system and without on The Believer. his directing debut. See review and panel. Bean Reel Life, UGC, 74 Aug, 6pm.
I Roman Coppola Retrospective and CO Mirrorball revisits the wildly original pop promos of Francis Ford‘s son. who also premieres his feature directing debut. See panel. Roman Coppola Retrospective, Fi/mhouse, 74 Aug. 70pm. CO Cameo, 75 Aug.
7 0.30pm; GFT, 17 Aug, 8.30pm. I Promises (pictured) Astonishing documentary that brings together Israeli and Palestinian kids in war-torn Jerusalem. See review. Fi/mhouse, 74 Aug, 7.30pm; GFI'. 76 Aug, 6pm.
I Surprise Movie The hottest ticket of the Film Festival, sponsored by The List. UGC, 75 Aug, 7pm.
I Tears Of The Black Tiger See preview, left.
I Werner Herzog Retrospective The mad German filmmakers documentary films. which describe even more incredible stories than his features Aguire, Wrath Of God and Fitzcarra/do. See panel. Fi/mhouse. dates and times vary.
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